"I always thought ballet would be a music box come to life. A dainty princess twirls in a stiff tutu while a prince solemnly assists, and the whole performance would serve up a tax-free inheritance in pointe shoes - polished, rarefied, and untouched by mortal concerns like gravity or sweat. In reality, one heroine fumbles every life decision and ends up in a swamp."
"Structurally speaking, Raymonda hasn't strayed too far in Rojo's recent update, which puts a feminist perspective on choreographer Marius Petipa's original work. The love triangle remains, but no one dies now, and our protagonist swaps her noble title for some overlap to Florence Nightingale - who history remembers for turning war hospitals from death traps to functional clinics. I guess the Nightingale bit threw me a little when attending the opening on March 1st."
Raymonda is reimagined for San Francisco Ballet as a 19th-century prima ballerina who gains agency and broader ambitions. The update preserves the original love triangle while removing fatal outcomes, allowing the protagonist to navigate marriage, affairs, and professional aspirations. The production introduces a Florence Nightingale-like nursing element that adds a career dimension to the heroine's conflicts. Sasha De Sola performs the lead, whose central struggles remain rooted in matters of the heart alongside growing vocational desires. Choreographic and narrative changes emphasize a feminist perspective and personal agency within classical ballet form.
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